w-strucken seven;
Seven hours thou stay'd'st from me; why didst thou so?
They are my seven years' 'prenticeship of woe.
Y. ART. I prythee, be patient; I had some occasion
That did enforce me from thee yesternight.
MRS MA. Ay, you are soon enforc'd; fool that I am,
To dote on one that nought respecteth me!
'Tis but my fortune, I am born to bear it,
And ev'ry one shall have their destiny.
Y. ART. Nay, weep not, wench; thou wound'st me with thy tears.
MRS MA. I am a fool, and so you make me too;
These tears were better kept than spent in waste
On one that neither tenders them nor me.
What remedy? but if I chance to die,
Or to miscarry with that I go withal,
I'll take my death that thou art cause thereof;
You told me that, when your wife was dead,
You would forsake all others, and take me.
Y. ART. I told thee so, and I will keep my word,
And for that end I came thus early to thee;
I have procur'd a licence, and this night
We will be married in a lawless[20] church.
MRS. MA. These news revive me, and do somewhat ease
The thought that was new-gotten to my heart.
But shall it be to-night?
Y. ART. Ay, wench, to-night.
A se'nnight and odd days, since my wife died,
Is past already, and her timeless death
Is but a nine-days' talk; come, go with me,
And it shall be despatched presently.
MRS. MA. Nay, then, I see thou lov'st me; and I find
By this last motion thou art grown more kind.
Y. ART. My love and kindness, like my age, shall grow,
And with the time increase; and thou shalt see
The older I grow, the kinder I will be.
MRS. MA, Ay, so I hope it will; but, as for mine,
That with my age shall day by day decline. [_Aside_.
Come, shall we go?
Y. ART. With thee to the world's end,
Whose beauty most admire, and all commend.
[_Exeunt_.
SCENE III.
_The Street near the House of Anselm's Mother_.
_Enter_ ANSELM _and_ FULLER.
ANS. 'Tis true, as I relate the circumstance,
And she is with my mother safe at home;
But yet, for all the hate I can allege
Against her husband, nor for all the love
That on my own part I can urge her to,
Will she be won to gratify my love.
FUL. All things are full of ambiguity,
And I admire this wond'rous accident.
But, Anselm, Arthur's about a new wife, _a bona roba_;
How will she take it when she hears this news?
ANS. I think, even as a virtuous maiden should;
It may be that report may, from thy mout
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